Category: Be Kind

I think healing comes when you are able to see how your pain was the fertilizer that allowed you to grow and blossom into the beautiful creation you are today.

Many of us – including me – take our biggest blessings for granted. Not only do I overlook everyday blessings, but I am quite often ungrateful for the biggest gifts in my life.

Instead of being grateful for the ability to hear my rambunctious boys, I tell them to be quiet.

Instead of being grateful for the ability to see my daughter’s ... Read More

I was doing my daily mom carpool recently when my 3-year-old son, Ben, piped up from the back seat.

“Mom, what does yannoy mean?”

Yannoy? My brain started turning over every word in Webster’s dictionary trying to figure out what Yannoy means.

“Yannoy, Ben?”

“No! Annoy, Mom. What does annoy mean?”

As I used words, like bother and bug, to help him grasp the concept ... Read More

I have a sneaking suspicion winter is going to come back to Fargo-Moorhead this year. Hopefully, it won’t last until May like it did last year.

It’s OK to joke about the nine months of winter we get in North Dakota and Minnesota and how hearty we Norwegians are, but the truth is, for some people, the snow makes it very ... Read More

God, please put a vice on my mouth that only opens after your approval.

“When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly.” – Proverbs 31:26 (MSG)

Five years ago, I went through one of the scariest experiences of my life. I found a lump in one of my breasts.

I made an appointment to see my doctor, truly thinking she’d squelch my fears with the words, “It’s nothing.”

Instead, she said, “We better get that checked out,” and scheduled me for an ultrasound.

The results of the ultrasound pointed ... Read More

I recently realized I’ve been writing this column for almost exactly two years. I still remember standing on stage at The Avalon in downtown Fargo for the launch party of the new SheSays section. I felt so proud to be included in such a prominent group of female writers and more than a little overwhelmed and intimidated.

I was nervous writing ... Read More

I have a special friend who comes to nearly every Bison basketball game. I can always count on him to be waiting near the locker room to greet the players, but he’ll leave his post when he sees me, and that’s always my favorite part of the night. He wraps his arms around me in a hug that allows me ... Read More

A few weeks ago I got a last-minute invitation to attend an annual event called “Pray for Gray.”

Julie Fletcher began the foundation and the fundraiser as a way to provide hope and support for brain tumor patients and their families.

The project is dear to Julie’s heart. Doctors found a pear-sized tumor on Julie’s right frontal lobe after she suffered an ... Read More

Do you want to know what terrifies me? The thought of 350 children in a gym with me in charge.

That is exactly the scenario I was faced with a few weeks ago at Longfellow Elementary in Fargo.

The principal called and asked if I would be willing to speak at an all-school assembly on the importance of kindness. I was so ... Read More